The announced retirements of Republican Sens. Bob Corker (Tenn.) and Jeff Flake (Ariz.) — plus Democratic Sen. Doug Jones’s stunning upset in Alabama and the emergence of crackpot Republican candidates (e.g., Joe Arpaio and Kelli Ward in Arizona) — have put the Senate majority in play. A tidal wave of retirements in the House, including nine chairmen as of Wednesday, increases the chances of a GOP wipe-out.

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"In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act." -
George Orwell

"Democrats have opened up a massive 17-point advantage in generic ballot polling for the House ahead of the 2018 midterm elections, according to the latest survey from Quinnipiac University.

When voters were asked if they would rather see Republicans or Democrats win control of the House in 2018, 52 percent said Democrats, while 35 percent said Republicans. Thirteen percent were undecided.

Those findings give Democrats a greater advantage than most other recent polls. According to the RealClearPolitics average, Democrats have a 12-point advantage in the generic ballot.

Still, many political observers are predicting a Democratic wave election and likening the 2018 political landscape to 2006, during former President George W. Bush’s second term in office, when Democrats picked up 30 seats and seized control of the House and the Senate.

That year, Democrats entered Election Day with an 8-point generic ballot lead, according to the RealClearPolitics average.

In the 2010 midterm elections, when the GOP picked up 63 seats in the House and won control of both chambers of Congress, Republicans had a 7-point advantage in the generic ballot, according to the RealClearPolitics average." The Hill

"Rep. Patrick Meehan, a Pennsylvania Republican who has been under scrutiny for alleged inappropriate behavior with a longtime female aide that resulted in a congressional payout, said Thursday that he will not seek reelection.
“Unfortunately, recent events concerning my office and the settlement of certain harassment allegations have become a major distraction,” he wrote in a letter to his campaign chairman that was obtained by The Washington Post. “I need to own it because it is my own conduct that fueled the matter. … It is clear to me, that under the current conditions, any campaign I would run would not be decided over vital issues but would likely devolve into an ugly spectacle of harsh rhetoric. I do not believe that is in the best interest of the constituents I represent.”" WP

"House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ) will retire at the end of his term, he announced Monday, opening up another swing district ahead of the 2018 elections.

“Today as I announce my retirement at the end of this session of Congress, I want to use the opportunity to strongly encourage the many young people I meet to consider public service,” he said in a Monday statement. “I thank my friends and colleagues with whom I have served.”

Frelinghuysen’s retirement opens up a suburban northern New Jersey seat, boosting Democrats’ chances at winning it in what’s shaping up to be a good year for the party and marking the latest in a string of GOP retirements that have further damaged the party’s chances at holding onto the House. President Trump won the district by just a one-point margin after Mitt Romney carried it by six in 2012, and Democrats had already planned to target it this fall.

He’s the latest senior Republican to decide to head for the exits — and the eighth GOP committee chairman who’s decided to hang things up. Unlike other powerful committee chairmen, Frelinghuysen just won his chairmanship and could continue to serve as chairman for five more years. That makes his retirement is especially notable — a strong sign that his decision was driven by the political headwinds Republicans face this year.

A whopping 24 House Republicans have announced their retirements or already resigned this Congress who aren’t running for higher office, compared with just seven Democrats. That retirement rate is even higher than ahead of previous wave elections like 2010, 2006 and 1994." TPM

"If the much-ballyhooed “blue wave” does materialize this fall, it could be Republican governors who suffer the most losses.
The other day, we ran down the seven governorships held by Democrats or independents that could fall to the GOP in November. Today’s list of vulnerable Republican seats is more than twice as long. According to qualitative assessments by nonpartisan handicappers — The Cook Political Report, Sabato’s Crystal Ball and Inside Elections,1 — only eight GOP-held governorships are completely safe in 2018.2 That leaves 18 Republican-held governorships in some degree of danger. Although it’s still too early to fully trust the polls in these races, here is a 30,000-foot rundown of Democrats’ potential 18 in ’18:" - 538

"Texans in the 15 largest counties have smashed the record for early voting in a non-presidential year, thanks largely to a huge surge in Democratic participation.
According to final figures posted Saturday by the Texas Secretary of State’s office, 885,574 Texas voted early in person or by mail over 11 days of early voting, which ended Friday. The primary is Tuesday.
That figure is up from 592,153 early votes in the comparable period before the 2014 March primary in the last midterm elections — a nearly 50 percent increase.
In 2014, Republican participation outpaced Democratic participation — 365,423 voters to 226,730. This year, participation in Democratic primaries outstripped participation in Republican primaries — 465,245 to 420,329." Statesmanhttps://www.statesman.com/news/state...HC2bWuQIesNoL/

Wow! Those Texas Bluebonnets are mad as hell and they ain't taking it anymore.
Yeehaw, Motha Feckers.

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“Never fight with a pig. You’ll just get dirty and the pig likes it."